Time capsules a peek into Rensselaer County's religious past

Tim Haskins, project manager with United Group of Companies, removes screws from a copper time capsule box at the Rensselaer County Historical Society on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017, in Troy, N.Y. The time capsule was in a stone in a building that was the former Immaculate Conception seminary. On the right is another time capsule, from 1960 found inside another stone in the building complex. The College Suites at Hudson Valley were built on the site. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union) less

Tim Haskins, project manager with United Group of Companies, removes screws from a copper time capsule box at the Rensselaer County Historical Society on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017, in Troy, N.Y. The time capsule ... more

Tim Haskins, project manager with United Group of Companies, removes screws from a copper time capsule box at the Rensselaer County Historical Society on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017, in Troy, N.Y. The time capsule was in a stone in a building that was the former Immaculate Conception seminary. On the right is another time capsule, from 1960 found inside another stone in the building complex. The College Suites at Hudson Valley were built on the site. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union) less

Tim Haskins, project manager with United Group of Companies, removes screws from a copper time capsule box at the Rensselaer County Historical Society on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017, in Troy, N.Y. The time capsule ... more

TROY – The two time capsules from the Franciscans’ former Immaculate Conception Seminary on Vandenburgh Avenue brought the expectation of opening presents on Christmas morning to the Rensselaer County Historical Society.

“We never know what’s going to be brought in on any given day,” Kathy Sheehan, the society registrar as well as the Troy city historian and the Rensselaer County historian, said Thursday.

Just like a holiday present can amaze or disappoint, the time capsules from 1941 and 1960 donated by the United Group fulfilled both expectations. The times capsules were placed in the cornerstones of seminary buildings erected in 1941 and 1960.

Wearing gloves to protect the contents from contamination, Sheehan pulled a block of waterlogged paper marked with mold from the small 1941 copper box. The damage paper appeared to be property deeds, Sheehan guessed. It would take a paper conservator to figure out if the brick of papers could be opened.

The 1960 copper box carried a trove of treasure – a relic of the veil of the Blessed Virgin Mary, small statuettes, perhaps made of pewter, of the Virgin Mary, the Infant of Prague, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Anthony of Padua, a copy of the Aug. 12, 1960 edition of The Evangelist, a copy of the Aug. 16 edition of The Troy Record, a photo of the seminary, a postcard of the seminary, a penny, Latin and English documents about the cornerstone, and three Franciscan provincial documents -- the 1960 Tabula, the 1957 Catalogue of the Province and the most recent issue of The Provincial Chronicle.

“This is an important collection to discover about the teaching seminaries there were here in Rensselaer County,” said Karin Krasevac-Lenz, the historical society’s executive director.

Tim Haskins, project manager for the United Group, and Greg Eves, marketing and public relations coordinator for the company, delivered the time capsules to RCHS.

The time capsules were discovered when the two cornerstones were pulled out of the seminary buildings before they were razed to clear the site for the College Suites at Hudson Valley. The 72 apartments with housing for 268 students opened in August.

The contents of the 1960 capsule were known due to newspaper articles reporting its placement, Haskins said. As for the 1941 capsule, he said, “We didn’t know what was in there.”

The United Group conducted historical and archaeological studies and surveys in preparation for the construction of the College Suites at Hudson Valley. The apartment building is located down the street from Hudson Valley Community College. It’s designed to provide nearby housing for college students.

Part of the work, Haskins said, involved the preservation of the Nail Factory Cemetery, also known as the Sixth Ward Cemetery that was on the grounds of the seminary property. After the seminary closed, the college used the buildings.